Bus breakdown backs up I-74 traffic

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Illinois-bound traffic backed up for bus fire on I-74 bridge 7-9-14

Traffic was backed up on Illinois-bound lanes of I-74 after heavy smoke poured from a LOOP bus on the I-74 bridge over the Mississippi River.

The incident was initially reported as a fire on the bus, just after 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 9, 2014.

The activity reduce the bridge to one open lane for traffic. The backup was about halfway to Middle Road within a few minutes of the fire. At 1:45 p.m. the backup was from the bridge all the way to Middle Road. The backup was clear just after 2 p.m.

Six passengers and the driver were on the bus, headed for Center Station in Moline, when the bus had mechanical problems and stalled on the Illinois-bound lanes of the I-74 bridge. The heavy smoke, visible from about a mile away, was due to a mechanical failure and not from an actual fire according to MetroLink spokesperson Jennifer Garrity.

The passengers were transferred to another bus which took them to their destination.